Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tisane Description:
Rooibos is also known as Red Bush or Red Tea. Sean O’Malley! I know you only drink black tea with shamrock cookies – but this herbal tea is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! Fruity with sweet notes, a secret flavoring gives this Rooibos a sweet amaretto like taste.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I brewed this tisane knowing only that it was called “Rainbow Rooibos” so I brewed it the way I would normally brew rooibos – with boiling water for 10 minutes. I didn’t know what the flavor had in store for me.
With my first sip, I could taste a almond-y kind of flavor, with a hint of fruit in the background. Then when I read the description and saw that it had a “sweet amaretto” taste … I like it when my taste buds are on target like that!
The almond notes mingle with the natural nutty tones of the rooibos quite well, and the two flavors together offer a very rich – almost creamy! – taste. My palate discerned the nut flavors first, and then discovered the fruit tones.
The fruit notes are slightly more delicate, but they linger through to the aftertaste, and even become a little more distinct in the aftertaste. Through the sip, it tastes more like a “neutral” fruit, but, in the aftertaste, there is a luscious apricot note. Delicious!
This is really good served either hot or cold, but with the warm months ahead I think right now is the time to be brewing up a big batch of this and putting it on ice! It’s very refreshing and deliciously sweet; something that I think the kids as well as adults would enjoy.
Red Bush Chai from Fusion Teas
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Fusion Teas
Tisane Description:
By itself, chai is merely the generic word for “tea” in much of South Asia and many other parts of the world. In western society chai has become to imply a spiced version of tea. Traditionally a strong base is used so that the spices and sweeteners do not overpower it. Rooibos is perfect in this manner because of the bold almost nuttiness flavor that is present.
There are a wide variety of spices that can be used. When you think of chai you immediately think of “warm” spices. Any combination of the following can be used: cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, fennel seeds, peppercorn, cloves, ginger, and star anise. Cardamon being the most common added spice for its dominant characteristic while a combination of the others play a supplemental role. Our Red Bush Chai stays true to tradition with its boldness.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve sampled quite a few chai-inspired rooibos blends. Some I’ve liked, some I didn’t. I like this one. It is warm and spicy without being too spicy.
In many rooibos chai blends, I don’t taste much from the rooibos, and usually I’m quite happy with that. However, I do taste the rooibos here – I taste that distinct nutty flavor of rooibos – and I am finding myself really enjoying the taste. The sweet, nutty flavor of the rooibos melds nicely with warmth of the spices, adding a pleasant depth to this cup. Also nice is the bright flavor from the citrus peel. It isn’t a dominate flavor, but it adds a vibrant kiss of flavor to the drink.
I really like the blend of spices. A nice peppery kick – but not too powerful a kick. A hint of sweet, sassy licorice from the fennel and anise, but unlike some chai blends that add the fennel and/or anise with a heavy hand, here, the licorice tones are in the background, providing a gentle, welcome flavor. Warmth from the cardamom, cinnamon and cloves.
Really tasty, this Red Bush Chai from Fusion Tea Room!
Red Rocks from The Tea Spot
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: The Tea Spot
Tisane Description:
Our blend of naturally caffeine–free South African red rooibos, vanilla, and almond bits is an herbal delight! Rooibos is full of antioxidants and healthy minerals such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, and fluoride. It has a wonderfully smooth flavor, and is a great cold buster as well as thirst quencher. It brews into a dark red liquor and has a naturally sweet, earthy scent, reminiscent of pipe–tobacco. You cannot over–steep this tea (the longer the better!) and it is fantastic by itself, or with cream and a bit of sweetener. Red Rocks is the perfect, healthy, all-around herbal tea – a favorite amongst athletes and as mom’s choice for children.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I had been hearing some good things about this rooibos blend over on Steepster, so I knew I had to try it … even if it IS rooibos!
The aroma of the dry leaf is pretty much what you might expect from rooibos: sweet and earthy, with nutty notes (which are further highlighted by the almond) and hints of wood and tobacco. I can also smell the vanilla. The brewed tea smells warm and inviting, like sweet nutty muffins fresh out of the oven.
This is really quite tasty. With most rooibos blends, I’m usually happy if the taste of the rooibos is masked or obscured by the other ingredients, because the flavor of rooibos just isn’t my favorite. But here, The Tea Spot did something a little different, something that I find every once in a while in a rooibos blend … but not often. Here, The Tea Spot utilized the ingredients to highlight the nutty flavors of the rooibos – and they did it well!
The almond and the natural nutty tones of the rooibos work very well together, enhancing the almond notes and adding depth to the overall cup. The vanilla not only softens the cup, but also sweetens it and manages to marry with the sweetness of the rooibos so that it doesn’t have that funky aftertaste that I so dislike. Instead, I just taste a sweet, lingering note of vanilla together with a delicate nutty taste.
This is a very good rooibos blend – one I’d recommend to those who generally do not like rooibos. The flavors here work so magnificently together to create a deliciously smooth cup that is cozy and comforting when served hot, and a tasty, refreshing treat when served iced.
African Carnival from Shanti Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Shanti Tea
Tisane Description:
This herbal blend is an exciting combination of herbs and spices. It embodies the smells and flavours of the African festival season and piques all of your senses creating an experience that walks a fine line between excitement and relaxing escape.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I know I’ve said it before, but, I prefer green rooibos over the oxidized, red variety. The green rooibos (which is not oxidized) has a fresher, fruitier flavor that I really enjoy. Unfortunately, there really are so few green rooibos blends out there … at least when compared to the red rooibos blends. So when I saw that this rooibos blend from Shanti Tea was a green rooibos blend, I was very pleased.
While Shanti Tea does not go into details on their website about the ingredients of this blend, I can see large rose petals, chunks of citrus peel and pieces of dried fruit in there amongst the needle-thin green rooibos leaves. It brews to a golden color that’s full of fruit flavor!
The citrus notes are prominent, and they add a certain brightness to the cup, as well as a tangy taste that offers a nice contrast to the sweeter fruit notes of peach and apple. I taste the floral notes as well, starting out with a very soft rose flavor at the start of the cup, and by the time I’ve reached mid-cup, the rose becomes a little more focused.
Overall, I’d describe this cup as a deliciously fruity, lightly sweet cup – very enjoyable! It is a tisane that I think kids would really like because of its sweet, nectar-y like taste, and because it’s naturally caffeine-free you won’t have to worry about it keeping them over-stimulated … and they certainly don’t need that!
Rooibos Renaissance from Rooibos Suite
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Rooibos Suite
Tisane Description:
Chocolate and pineapple waft gently through premium rooibos. A light nutty finish.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
At first, I found this tisane to be slightly disappointing. It tasted like pure rooibos, not a chocolate and pineapple flavored rooibos which is what I was looking forward to trying! However, after about two sips, the chocolate and pineapple emerged.
This is really quite good … not disappointing at all!
While I would like for there to be more chocolate (but then, is there EVER enough chocolate?), there is a pleasant amount of chocolate-y flavor and I like the creaminess that the chocolate flavor brings to the cup. The same is true for the pineapple, I should like to have a slightly stronger pineapple note, but, I like the way the pineapple brightens the overall flavor of the tisane.
The rooibos, which was quite prevalent in the first couple of sips, seems to taken a back seat to the chocolate and pineapple notes now. I do taste notes of nutty flavor from the rooibos, and this melds quite nicely with the chocolate-y flavor.
An enjoyable cup, one that requires just a bit of patience from the sipper, but, that patience is rewarded.